Method of lasting shoes.



J. .l. GILLESPIE.

METHOD OF LASTING SHOES.

APPLIICATIVON FILED JULY 1. 1915.

mmaw. Patented Aug. 17,1915.

Fig.1.

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JOHN J. GILLESPIE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

METHOD OF LASTING SHOES;

Specification of Letters Patent. I Patented Aug. 17, 1915.,

Original application filed April 30, 1913, Serial No. 764,565. Divided and this application filed July 7, 1915.

. Serial No. 38,428;

on thedrawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to the manufacture of boots and shoes and more particularly to improvements in methods of lasting shoes, and this application is a division of application Ser. No. "(G-L565, filed April 30, 1913 for improvements in lasting machines.

It has been proposed to treat the upper materials of the toe portion of a shoe with heated vapor prior to lasting for the purpose of rendering said materials pliable and responsive to the operation of lasting mechanism in shaping the upper stock to the last, as explained in United States Letters Patent No. 1,0945%, granted April 28, 1914, on application of F. E. Fernald for apparatus for use in the manufacture of boots and shoes, and No. 1,l17,852, granted Nov. 17, 191* on application of J. H. Johnson for apparatus for moistening shoes. Much advantage has been gained by the use of such apparatus as that of said patents, and toe steamers, as they are called in the shoe factories, have gone into extensive commercial use. The toe steaming operation as heretofore practised has always lasting machine the shoe which has been'in the steamer the longer, and replacing it with a fresh shoe. The steamed shoe is placed in the lasting machine between the toe and heel lasting mechanisms and clamped in position by jacking the shoe. It is the custom of operators to last and tack the heel end of the shoe first and then proceed to last the toe end. By the time the operator has transferred the shoe from the steamer to the lasting machine, jacked the shoe and lasted the heel end, the upper materials of the toe end of the shoe have cooled enough to have lost much of the benefit of the toe steaming operation, particularly when the upper materials include a quick setting toe stifiener, and, in an effort to have the shoes still in good condition when the toes are reached for lasting, operators often oversteam the toes to an extent which injures the leather;

One object of this invention is to obviate these defects in the procedure heretofore followed, and another object is to expedite the shoemaking process by eliminating the time-consuming handling of the shoe be tween the toe steaming and the toe lasting operations.

Inaccordance with these objects it is proposed by this invention to treat the upper materials of an end portion of a shoe with heated vapor while the shoe is in position for lasting. In carrying out the method of this invention, the preferred order of steps is to arrange a shoe in suitable position for toe lasting, subject the upper materials at the end and sides of the toe of the shoe so positioned to the action of heated vapor, and when the upper materials of the toe portion of the shoe have become suitably moistened and softened by the action of the heated vapor, immediately to last the toe end of the shoe while the shoe remains .in the position in which it was treated with heated vapor and the upper materials retain all of the benefits of the heat treatment. This method has the advantages that the shoe is lasted while the upper materials retain all of the heat and moisture received from the heated vapor treatment; there is no temptation for the workman to oversteam the upper materials; and there is no loss of time in handling the shoe between the toe steaming and toe lasting steps.

When the invention is practised in connection with heel and toe lasting, I prefer to jack the shoe in position to be operated upon by toe and heel lasting means, such as end embracing wiper plates, then simultaneously last the heel end of the shoe and apply heated vapor to the toe end of the shoe and then last the toe end of the shoe.

The softening and moistening of the upper materials may be efiected by applying heated vapor in any known or suitable way i to obtain the desired result, and the lasting tion of a heel .and toe lasting. machine equipped with the invention which is the subject-matter of my said application Ser. No. 764,565. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional detail illustrating how the heated vapor is turned on when the shoe is jacked for the lasting operation.

I The apparatus illustrated in the drawings comprises a frame 1 in which is mounted a toe lasting head 2 and a heel lasting head 4. The toe lasting head supports toe lasting wiper plates 5 constructed and arranged to embrace the toe of the shoe and to be operated by a hand lever 6 to wipe the upper materials into lasted position. The heel lasting head supports similar heel embracing wiper plates 7 operated by a similar hand lever 8. The machine also has a toe rest 9 and a heel pin 10 upon which the shoe is sustained for-the lastin operation. The toe rest is vertically movab e, by an operating slide 12 and is raised thereby in the jacking operation to raise the toe of the shoe. These parts are all constructed and organized as is well known in toe and heel lasting machines.

The toe lasting head 2 sustains a device 15 for applying. heated vapor to the upper materials of the toe portion of the shoe. This device as herein shown has a crescent-shaped head provided with perforations arranged to direct heated vapor against and around the toe portion of the shoe and communicates with a steam supply pipe 14 by means of av sliding valve 16 which is pressed upwardly by a spring 18. The valve is depressed by a finger 20 projecting from a collar onthe stem of the toe rest, the arrangement being such that when the shoe is unjacked by the depression of the toe rest slide 12, the toe rest descending by gravity, the ringer 20 forces the valve 16 down and discontinues the supply of steam or vapor from the pipe 14 to the distributer. The weight of the toe rest, acting through finger 20, holds the valve 16 normally down and closed. When the shoe is jacked by raising the toe rest slide 12, the rest 9 and the toe of the shoe to hold the shoe for the lasting operation, the finger20 is lifted and thespring 18 is allowed to open the valve 16 to supply steam to the distributer 15, all as fully explained in my said ap-- plication Ser. No. 764,565. 0

In practising this inventlon with the aid of the described apparatus, a shoe is posi- "upper materials at the have become suitably moistened and softened by the action of the heated vapor and then the toe is immediately lasted by the use of the toe lasting plates 5 while the shoe remains in the same position and retains all of the benefits'of the heat treatment. -Advantageously the heel end of the shoe may be-lasted by use of the heel lasting plates 7 while the toe. is being steamed. By simultaneously' lasting the heel end of the shoe and applying the heat and moisture to the toe end of the shoe the workmans time is utilized to good ad vantage and the maximum benefits of the heat treatment are available when he proceeds to the lasting of the toe. The invention is, of course, not limited to the manner in which the lasting is performed, nor to the manner in which the heated vapor is applied to the upper materials of the shoe to soften and moisten them, nor to the particular end ortion of the shoe which is treated with I eat and moisture and then immediately lasted while it retains all of the benefits of Vamps or toe tips of enameled leather. The 7 heat and moisture soften the enamel coating and render it pliable so that the lasting can be efiected with little or no cracking of the enamel. The enamel chills, very quickly, however, and much ofthe benefit of the heat treatment is usually lost by the procedure heretofore followed, whereas by the improvement in methods of lasting provided by this invention all of the benefits of the heat treatment are conserved and utilized in I the lasting operation, it being even possible to continue the heat treatment during the operation of lasting the heated and moistened leather.

Having explained the nature of this invention and described how it may be practised, I' claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States 1. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in arranging a shoe in suitable position for toe lasting, subject- 1 ing the upper materials at the end and sides of the toe of the shoe so positioned to the the toe end of the shoe While the shoe remains in the position in which it was treated by the heated vapor and the upper materials retain all of the benefits of the heat treatment.

2. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in arranging a shoe in suitable position for toe and heel lasting, subjecting the upper materials at the end and sides of the toe of the shoe so positioned to the action of heated vapor, lasting the heel end of the shoe while the toe portions of'the upper materials are being softened by the heated vapor, and then lasting the toe end of the shoe. l v

3. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in jacking a shoe in position to be operated upon by toe and heel lasting means, subjecting the upper materials of one end portion of the shoe to the action of heated vapor and lasting the other end of the shoe while the vapor is heating and softening the upper, and then immediately lasting the heated end of the shoe while the upper materials retain all of the benefits of the heat treatment.

4. That improvement in methods of making shoes which comprises jacking a shoe, simultaneously lasting one end of the shoe and applying heat and moisture to the upper materials at the other end of the shoe, and thenlasting the end of the shoe which has been undergoing treatment by the heat and moisture.

5. That improvement in methods of mak ing shoes having enamel coated toe tips which'consists in arranging a shoe with the toe in operative relation to toe lasting wiper plates, treating the toe portion of the upper including the enameled toe tip with heat and moisture, and when the enamel coating has become softened and pliable immedi. ately lasting the toe of the shoe.

6. That improvement in methods of making shoes having enamelcoated toe tips which consists in arranging a shoe with the toe in operative relation to toe lasting wiper plates, treating the toe portion ofthe upper including the enameled toe tip with heat and moisture, and when the enamel coating has become softened and pliable immediately lasting the toe of the shoe in the presence of sufficient heat to prevent the enamel from becoming chilled before it has been worked into lasted position.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

JOHN J. GILLESPIE. 

